Chapter 21: Lee’s Legacy (Mostly Lies, Some Truths)

After everything was said and done, Erica leaned back in her chair, twirling her spoon in a half-empty bowl of stew. The village tavern was warm, lively, and—most importantly—not currently under siege by any horrifying monsters. A true luxury.

She let herself enjoy it for all of five minutes before casually remarking, "So. The forest weirdo called you Leon."

Lee, seated across from her, visibly tensed for a fraction of a second. It was so brief that most people wouldn't have caught it. But Erica wasn't most people.

He recovered with an easy smirk. "Did they?"

"Mmhm." Erica took a slow sip of her drink. "Loudly. Clearly."

Lee gave a nonchalant shrug, tearing off a piece of bread. "Misheard when I was introduced, I guess."

"Mm." Erica tapped a finger on the rim of her cup. "Weird mistake."

"Well, they were also actively trying to kill us, so I'd say miscommunication was bound to happen."

"Mm."

He tossed the bread into his mouth, chewing a little too deliberately. "Anyway, I am thrilled that my name is such a riveting topic of discussion, but why don't we talk about—oh, I don't know—literally anything else?"

Before Erica could respond, a voice bellowed across the tavern—

"THE SCOUNDREL RETURNS!"

Silence.

Erica blinked. Slowly turned to Lee, whose expression had gone from cocky to deeply, deeply tired.

"Oh, for fuck's sake," he muttered.

That was all the confirmation the villagers needed.

An elderly woman slammed a wooden spoon on a table. "You owe me for that batch of 'miracle elixir' that gave my husband food poisoning!"

"That wasn't my fault," Lee shot back. "He chugged the whole bottle in one go! That's—"

A burly man cracked his knuckles. "You promised me a hair tonic, Leon."

Erica gave Lee a slow side-eye. He didn't even try to correct the name.

Lee opened his mouth. Closed it. Then, after a beat—"And? Hasn't it worked?"

The man pointed to his completely bald head.

"…Okay," Lee admitted. "But spiritually, don't you feel hairier?"

The man lunged.

From there, the accusations poured in.

—"You scammed my brother into thinking he was cursed!"

—"You sold me a map that led to nowhere!"

—"My wife still talks about you, you bastard!"

That last one got a collective pause.

Everyone turned to an older, grizzled man in the back.

Sid choked on his drink. Sydney was in full-blown cackling mode. "Ohhh, this is gold." Erica checked out of the conversation after hearing that, which was strange considering how much of a show was being displayed.

The villagers, clearly divided between outrage and sheer entertainment, started debating the real Legend of Leon.

—"I heard he once convinced an entire town he was royalty."

—"No, no, he was royalty, but he abandoned the throne to become a con artist."

—"I heard he slayed a dragon!"

—"I heard he married a dragon!"

—"I heard he has a secret twin and they swap places!"

Sydney gasped in mock betrayal. "Does the dragon know you've been flirting with Erica?"

Lee groaned, dragging a hand down his face. "I'm going to kill you both."

Erica just sipped her drink. "Bold of you to assume that'd stop them."

As the villagers spoke amongst themselves about the rumors, Sydney and Sid leaned over the bar counter, watching Erica with barely contained grins.

"You know," Sydney began, voice casual. "Erica's got a tragic backstory."

Lee, still rubbing his temples from the flirting with Erica accusation, perked up slightly. "Yeah?"

"Oh yeah," Sid chimed in. "Terrible. H-heartbreaking, really."

Lee turned, frowning. "What happened?"

Sydney sighed dramatically. "She was… so lonely."

Sid nodded solemnly. "A real lone wolf."

Sydney sniffled. "No friends, no love, no joy…"

Lee's brows furrowed, something unreadable flickering across his face. "That bad?"

Sydney could feel Erica's glare from a million yards away, so she just waved a dismissive hand. "Well, no, not really. She was just weird and didn't like people."

Sid leaned in, whispering conspiratorially, "She still doesn't."

Lee huffed a quiet laugh, shaking his head. "Wow. Riveting tragedy, guys."

"Oh, but wait!" Sydney grinned. "There's one exception."

Lee took a sip of his drink, uninterested. "Oh?"

Sydney and Sid smiled in unison.

"You."

Lee immediately choked.

Sydney beamed. "Congrats! You're her only tolerable human connection. Other than us, of course. That's huge."

Lee opened his mouth. Shut it. Then, instead of addressing the comment, he turned and called to the very subject of their conversation, "Erica! Your cousins are being awful!"

Erica, still watching the chaos of the tavern die down, barely glanced over. "Get used to it."

Sydney grinned at Lee, all teeth. "She's warming up to you."

Lee groaned into his hands.

Once the twins finally had their fun and took their attention elsewhere, Lee sat at the bar, absently running a hand over the rim of his cup. Erica was nearby, lazily playing with a spoon, spinning it between her fingers.

He watched her for a moment, then finally muttered, "You really don't let people in, huh?"

Erica didn't look up. "Nope."

A pause.

Lee tilted his head, smirking faintly. "So… why me?"

Erica, without looking at him, said, "You don't let people in either."

Lee's smirk didn't fade, but something in his eyes did. Just for a second.

Erica finally glanced at him, tilting her head.

Lee met her gaze, easygoing as ever. "Maybe I just haven't met my tragic sugar coated backstory narrators yet."

Erica smirked. "Want me to call them over?"

Lee groaned. "Absolutely not."

As Lee sipped his drink, his gaze lingered on the wood grain of the bar—expression unreadable, just for a moment longer.

Because, really, they had no idea how right they were.